Records not stored vertically for decades

@lewm Raul’s Pontus are not valid or useful for my situation.  Did you not read my post?  I mentioned both the storage conditions and that I currently can’t play the albums, so I was simply asking what damage may have been done by storing the records flat in piles rather than upright/vertical.  That’s all.

@yoyoyaya Thanks for your thoughts regarding contaminants — that makes a lotta sense and makes me hope my better records are near the top 🤞🤞🤞.  Also, I already have a turntable/phono pre ready to go so won’t cost anything to get going but currently don’t have a place to set up my system due to personal circumstances.  Looking forward to rediscovering vinyl though.

Ok. I was mainly concerned the pressure from the weight would affect the grooves and the sound but not sounding like that’s much of a problem. 

Just finished listening to Analogue Productions Gaucho - 45 rpm - re-mastered by Bernie. Another home run if you are a SD fan.

@dmk_calgary Funny you mention Steely Dan — my favorite band.  One of the things I was hoping is that my old vinyl sounds better than the digital versions that I find hard to listen to — especially the older stuff.  I have MoFi Orig Master Recordings of Aja and The Nightfly on vinyl that I’m especially looking forward to but heard the latter’s not all that great (never critically listened to it on a good system).  Any recommendations for some really good SD vinyl?

Thanks to all those recommending record cleaning methods/equipment cause I’m gonna really need them and am looking into each and every one.  Back in the day I just used the ol’ Discwasher brush/liquid so I’m sure there’s a ton o’ crap lurking in them grooves.  Also definitely gonna get some good rice sleeves so thanks for that tip too.  Think I’m gonna get to see the records tomorrow so I’ll see what I’m dealing with here. 🤞🤞🤞

Well, I got to look at some of my records today and they look to be in surprisingly good shape.  There may be some warping but tough to really tell just by looking (unfortunately didn’t get to view them on a flat surface) , there was no visible mold, and even the albums toward the bottom in their original paper sleeves looked very clean with no visible signs of the paper being embedded into the grooves.  Obviously the proof will be in the playing, but I was encouraged by what I saw and was surprised it wasn’t worse given the extreme length of time it’s been.